Hi there, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Nancy Sun…

And I'm Clifford Chu.

In today's news:

The post office issues leopard cat stamps, space tourists visit the International Space Station, and The Simpsons will feature a deaf character for the first time ever.

All that and more, coming up next.

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郵局發行石虎郵票

Post Office Issues Leopard Cat Stamps to Promote Conservation

The leopard cat is the only surviving cat native to Taiwan.

石虎是臺灣僅存的野生貓科動物。

It is a little bigger than a house cat.

Its fur (毛) has brown spots.

And it has two white stripes (條紋) on its forehead (額頭).

The cats are carnivores (肉食動物), which mean they only eat other animals.

They hunt mice, birds, lizards and other prey for food.

它們捕食老鼠、鳥類、蜥蜴和其他獵物。

The cat lives in the low mountains of Taiwan and they are mostly solitary animals.

They are most active (活躍) at dawn and at night.

And they are good at swimming and climbing.

There are less than 500 left on the island, which means they are endangered (瀕危).

Chunghwa Post will now have Taiwan leopard cat stamps to raise awareness (意識) about the animals.

The art on the stamps was drawn by artist Ko Hung-tu.

The post office made two leopard cat stamps.

One is worth 8 NT and the other is worth 28 NT.

And they can be purchased (購買) at any Chunghwa Post Office location.

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太空遊客參觀國際太空站

Space Tourists Visit the International Space Station

Have you ever wanted to take a vacation in space?

你有沒有想過去太空度假?

Well, three people did just that!

On April 8th, the three space tourists were launched into space on a rocket.

這三名太空遊客上個禮拜搭乘火箭前往國際太空站。

They docked (停靠) at the International Space Station on April 9th.

They will spend 10 days in orbit.

They will be escorted by a retired astronaut (退休太空人) for the entire trip.

Each person paid $55 million US dollars (五千五百萬美金) for the trip to space.

That's about $1.6 billion NT (16億台幣)!

The cost includes the rocket rides, all of their meals and accommodation.

費用包括乘坐火箭，和所有的餐食和住宿。

It will also give them access (使用權) to the entire space station except for the Russian area.

This is the first time that NASA, the US space agency (機構), has allowed outside visitors to the space station.

However, Russians have been allowing visitors to their area of the station for several years.

The trip to the station was organized(舉辦) by a private company.

It will organize future trips to the space station for paying customers.

And by 2024, the company plans to add rooms to the station for visitors to stay in.

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辛普森家庭 將首次出現失聰角色

The Simpsons Will Feature a Deaf Character for the First Time Ever

The Simpsons is an animated TV show.

It has been on TV in North America for over 30 years.

動畫電視節目"辛普森家庭"已經在北美洲播出30多年了。

For the first time in the history of the show it will have a deaf (失聰) character.

The character is named Monk Murphy, and he is the son of Lisa's friend who was a saxophone (薩克斯風) player.

Because Monk is deaf, some of the characters will communicate using sign language.

因為Monk失聰，一些角色會用手語交流。

But, characters on the Simpsons only have four fingers, so it was tricky (困難) to translate (翻譯) some of the words.

The script writer (編劇) wanted to write the episode because her brother is deaf.

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So, in today's News Bites:

The Taiwan leopard cat is the only surviving native cat on the island.

There are less than 500 left, so it is endangered.

So, Chunghwa Post has released stamps to raise awareness about the animals.

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Three space tourists were launched into space on the 8th of April.

They will stay on the International Space Station for 10 days.

Each visitor paid $55 million US dollars for the trip!

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And,

The Simpsons will have a deaf character on the show for the first time in its history.

The show has been on TV for over 30 years.

The script writer wanted to write the show because her brother is deaf.

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And that's today's episode of News Bites!